Inspired by art

In need of ideas to boost your next short story, poem or novel? Why not go take a look at some art? Visit an art gallery, look at some online images, or generate your own using an AI tool. Here, I suggest some ways of seeking inspiration in art works and provide some example paintings and sculpture to help.

Written to support the Girl with a Golden Earring challenge. Write a chapter for your next novel using a work of art as inspiration.

How to go about finding inspiration for a work of art? You can use some of these ideas whether or not you are planning to enter the challenge. Why not give it a go? We all need inspiration sometimes, whether for our story writing, or life in general.

1: The literal approach

Look at a painting, sculpture or other artifact, could be famous or not. Write a story about the subject of the painting, be it a portrait, landscape, episode form history or whatever. Look at what is happening in the painting, the action of the scene if you like. For example:

Van Gogh, Starry Night could simply be taken literally, as an image of a starry night in a peaceful village. What could possibly happen to disturb the peace? Perhaps you could start with the thought (title or first line) "It was a starry, starry night..." This could also bring in some inspiration to be found from listening to the song about Van Gogh by Don McLean.

2: Write a story about the painting of the painting

Just like Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring. Though I have never read Chevalier's book or seen the movie or play of the same name, I know that the story imagines the life of the model for the painting, weaving in the sordid scenes of seventeenth century life in Delft.

3: Write a story about the subject of a portrait

Choose any portrait and write about the subject. You can use the portrait to inspire a historical story, or just to help create a fictional character for your novel. Either way, try to understand the personality of the person in the painting.

4: Painting comes to life

What if the subject of the painting comes to life? Perhaps the portrait's subject visits the protagonist as a mysterious figure who seems vaguely familiar but our hero cannot quite decide who it is. What if the main character visited an art gallery and was attracted to a particular portrait or subject of a painting? Later they dreamt that the image came to life? Or was it a dream? The painting you choose could be a simple portrait, or a complex scene in which one character stands out.

What if the figure of Whistler's Mother in this painting appears in your living room when you are alone one evening? What would she say to you? What secrets could she bestow or what could she tell you that might save your life... or put you in peril?

5: Time slip

The protagonist, and/or their nearest and dearest, fall through the painting into a different time and space. In the case of Girl with a Pearl Earring they could, perhaps, fall into 17th century Holland and follow an adventure to find out some mystery associated with the painting, its subject, or the artist.

6: Mood painting

Look for a painting that conveys a mood, like happiness or depression. What about Munch, The Scream? What is so frightening about this scene? How can you convey this fear in your story portrait of your main character? What has happens? What are they so afraid of?

7: Images of heroism or martyrdom

Take an image of a medieval knight, for instance, and image their heroic adventures. Or an image of a battlefield. You could of course use a war painting to underline the horrors of armed conflict. Or you could take a painting of a saint and martyr and write about their passion or their ministry. Or someone who acts like a biblical saint and makes a big sacrifice. Like this image of Saint Sebastian, shot to death by arrows, for refusing to fight for the Roman army.

8: Mythical images

If fantasy, sword and sorcery, is your thing forget about Harry Potter, LOTR, and Game of Thrones and do something a little more original by taking a look at some mythology in painting for inspiration. In this case the sculpture of Perseus triumphantly raising the severed head of Medusa. This could be a literal interpretation of the myth of the defeat of the gorgon, or a figurate story about good triumphing over evil, or ambition succeeding against all odds. Or is Perseus the baddy?

9: A spectral presence

A ghostly pilot stands next to a fighter plane, accompanying The Phantom Ace by Edwin A. Goewey. Artist unknown. Here you have the opportunity to find the Goewey story and rewrite it or simply write your own using this spectral image as inspiration.

10: A Da Vinci Code kinda conspiracy

A painting has a hidden code or meaning that the protagonist must unlock. If you don't know the story, look it up - or read the book!

$50 prize fund to win

I hope these tips help you to make the most of looking at art to inspire your story writing. It doesn't stop here. You could also look at images that convey love, or horror, or any genre you are interested in. Just go see some art and be inspired. Don't forget to check out:

Girl with a Golden Earring challenge

Write the first chapter of your next novel and win $25 first prize + $25 runner up prizes. Who know, this could be the start of your next novel.